Mail-pouch rack.



V. WILLOUGHBY.

MAIL POUCH BACK.

APPLICATION FILED Dno.11. 1911 Patented' Feb. 11, 1913.

s' SHEETS-snuff 1.

an@ am witnesses V. WILLOUGHBYl MAIL POUCH RACK.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 11. 1911 Patented Feb. 11, 1913 5 SBEETS'SHEET 5 Quim 14101::

.UNTED vieron WILLOUGHBY, or JEijgERsoN-VILLE, INDIANA, AssiGNon ToAMEmGAN CAB. AND FOUNDRY coMPANY or s'i. Louis. MISSOURI, A CORPORATION or NEW JERSEY.

MAIL- Ponen RACK.

Speccation of Letters Patent.

To all lwhomit may concern.' e Be vit known that I, VIc'roR WrLLoUGHBY, residing at Jeffersonville, Clark county, In-

`diana, and being a. citizen of the United States', have'invented certain new and-useful'- Improvements in ,Mail-Pouch Racks,` of

which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as willenablefothers Skilled in the art to vwhich it appertains to make and to use the-same, `reference being "had to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the preferred -forins (litho-"invention, though it is to beunderstood thatthe invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is j'obvious that various modifications thereof will occur to persons skllled in the art.

In said drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevational View `of myv improved pouch rack,

` the invention.

showing t-hesame in full lineswhen'in position for use and in Adotted lines when folded up and not in use, Fig. 2 is a front elevational -view ofV the rack extended as '-when'in use, Fig. 3 isa similar view ofA the rack closed, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. v1, Fig. 4t is a perspective view"of two of the frame members detached,'Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a pair of adjoining brackets, Fig. G is a side elevation of aneinbodiment of the invention differing. somewhat from that illustrated inFig. 1, and, Fig. 7 is a similar 'View of stillanother embodiment of The object of the invention is to provide a simple convenient and economical rack 'adapted to beused in postal cars as mail pouch racks, the particular o bject of the in- Vvention being to provide a rack of this char- Vacter which may be so placed as to conform Vsufficient clearance below the rack at the.`

to the standard height above the floor of the car, which standard height is approximately three (3) feet, and which will leave side of the car for a sufficient number of heating pipes to properly warm the car.

ln addition to the foregoing, an equally, if not more important object of the invention is to furnish a construction whereby @to reduce the heretofore unntilized vspace between the 'adjacent ends of therack seczftions, thus shortening the total space rcqnired for the row of racks without in anyY )way reducing the net working space.

AHeretofore racks have been commonly used inl postal cars which are adapted to shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1.

be folded against ai@ Side @neeffie-ear when not in use, but snchxracks have been found objectionable because ofi'i'niiltiplicity ofparts and lack'of space vbelovithe'saine for heater pipes. Also,v` because these older styles of racks, by reason' of ,their'Striic- -tural formation required a substantial spacing apart, to overcome Whichis, asabove suggested, one of the'y characteristics. ofthe present invention. i

I have overcome the objections to racks now in use in the present design,"which comprises parts which may be readily attached in position to eithersteel or Awood cars, as may be desired and which'whennot in use as holding racks for pouches-may be folded' up against the/sides of theca'rgas Referring to the parts the line F indicates the inner face of the carwall', against "which is secured the bracket jwhich -is preferably a casting, provided with suitable orifices for the passage .therethroughf screws or bolts to secure the same" in operai tive positioinKthe bracket H isv provided near its lower end withan otsetvportion G which is perforated for the-passage therethrough of a suitable'rivet to"secure.:1the brace pivotally in position.Y Fwrepre'- sents the windows in saidA wall. Disposed at a suitable distance apar-t in the bracket are seats orrecesses B- and B', which seats or recesses are connected by a vertical passage S, the object of which will be hereinafter more fully explained.

`As will be'observed in Fig. 2, theliack-.Al comprises four rods 2, and 3, 3, 3,-vthe rod-2 being held in the .upper seat B, of the bracket H and this rod as well as the rods'V 3 extending through or being connected with side frame members 4 one at each end Y.

of said rods. lt will be'noted that .the

outermost rod 3 is in a plane below the next rod 3 when rack 1 is in its relatively horizontal position, this being for the well understood purpose ot' connecting thereto the bag racks commonly' used in postal cars. Each ot' the side frame meinbersl. is pro- \'ided with a downwardly extendingperforated Ylug 5, through whichextends'a suitable pivot G which is adapted to rconnect the brace members l before referred to with Said side frame ineuibera.':ind as\the braces l are pivoted at (Seat-their loweren'ds,` itI isevident that they are' free to swing upon their pivots, -so as `to p permit changing position of the racks. ,l b

When vthe `racks are in their horizontal position, as shown in full lines in Fig. 1,v

the rods 2 will rest in a seat B at the-upper end of the bracket IH and the outer portionof the rack will be Vsupported by vthe braces I, as shown in [2, but when itis de- `sired=to fold the rack all that is necessary -1 passageS intoA the" seat B as .shown indotted 'lines in Fig. 1, and t-he rack will be is to force the rod 2-'inwardly s'uiiciently far to it from its seat B whereupon said, rod may drop .'downwardlyl along the folded-'into the closed position shown in vdottedlines in Fig. 1, the braceI swinging upon'its pivotsG-during this movement and tending todraw. downwardly the inner'por tionV of said rack. f

f There is a desirable featureiorl the invention incident to the swinging of the racks upwardly into the approximately vertical f position shown in'Fig. 2, which should be here no'ted, the same being't'he fact that theY upwardly extending portions of the rack 'beingin .this position directly in front of *the windows, they thus serve as a protection for the windows against storage matter, etc.

When the rack is in its folded position and it' isidesired vto extend it to the horizontal position,v this operation imay be reversed.. The preferred arrangement. is thatfillustrated ingthe firstV series,Av of views of the drawings, special reference being made to Figs. 4 and 5 wherein it will be seen that the bracket is provided with a single basepor- .tion' and twoclosely associated guides for the frame members, the guides being separated a distance substantially thaty of the combined `width of a pair of adjoining 'frame members (Fig. 4). These frame members constitute the ends of separate sections and demonstrate the minimum amount of space required lfor assembling my imv proved racks together, substantially no excess or loss of space being encountered in such a construction.

vIt will be apparent that in lieu of the' Y construction above defined the frame members may be provided atI their endswith' sepf arated'ears adapted to embrace the guide portions of the brackets and bring the main body portions of the frame members 4 in. the `plane of and directly in front of the bracket to'obviate the necessity of providing additional space at the sides of the bracket which would be necessary where the frame members are attached outside of the bracket as distinguished from being split rod 2fwhen the rack is in brackets may 'be located within tne rack,

Y Figs. 1, 2 and 3,A that is between the side frame members 4 or the brackets H maybe placed outside the said side frame members,

in which latter case it may be desirable to provide rod 2 with collars 7 (Fig. 6), which YSavill bear against the brackets' H and prevent longitudinal shifting of the racks 1 in said brackets. 1 A

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Fig. 6, the'lower'portion yof the bracket is ldevoid of the notch or seat utilized in that form of vdevice illustrated in Fig. 1, and in lieu thereof a weighted gravity actuated dog J is provided, the same being adapted to automatically swing over the -rod 2 when'the rack is elevated and to be released by means of a finger piece 7' when the -rack is lto be opened.

In Fig. 7, I illustrate still anotherI embodiment to emphasize the breadth of the invention. In this form the brace rod or strut is carried fromv the lower end of the bracket outwardly to the end' of the frame member 4 rather than to the intermediate point shown in the other forms. In the form now being considered I also provide a weighted Agravity lock L near the upper end of the bracket adapted to engage the open or extended position.

In any orall of the embodiments of .the

Vinvention herein disclosed the lower end Gr of the bracket to which the brace or strut is pivoted may be.carried forwardly and Vdownwardly to leave a space M; therebehind for the accommodation of the heating pipes.

lVhat I claim is:

1. In a device of the character described, the combinationcomprising coupled brackets having alined rack seats in two planes, a rockable rack and means holding the same against the top` portion of the lowerof said alined seats.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination comprising coupled brackets having alined rack seats in two planes, and arockable rack adapted to engage either set of said alined seats, and auxiliary means for locking the rack in one of its positions.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination comprising coupled brackets having alined rack seats. in two planes, and a rockable rack adapted to engage either set of said alined seats, and auxiliary means for locking the rack in one of its positions comprising a weighted gravity actuated dog adapted to open to permit the rack'to pass Y and to close to lock the rackv in position.

4. Ina device of the character described, a bracket, a rack having one end slidably mounted in said bracket andshiftable from .one position to another relative to said bracket, means for holding said rack in one of the plurality of positionsand means meager adapted to lock said-rack in said held posi- 5. In a device of the character described, the Combination of a l'iracket having a vertically disposed passage therein and a pair of seats or recesses offset. from and communicating with opposite ends of said passage, a rack slidabl mounted in said passage adapted to be pivotally mounted in said seats or recesses, and a pair ofl locks one coacting with each of said seats or recesses -to hold-the rack pivotally mounted therein.

6. In a device of the character described, the combination of a bracket having a vertically disposed passage therein and a` recess commumcating with said passage, a rack slidably mounted inY said passage and recess and a gravity lock coasting with said recess automatically to lock said rack therein.

7. In a device of the' character described, 20

the combination of a bracket, a rack adapted to be supported from said bracket when in extended position and adapted to be folded to av vertical position, means lookin said rack in folded position and additiona 25 means locking -said rack in extended position.

In witness 'whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses):- VICTOR WILLOUGHBY Witnesses:

Jos. H. MILANs, JAS. E. HUTCHrNsoN. 

